Morning journal and courier., 1887-09-14
THE STATE FAIR.

| | Large Crowd Present - Governor LounsburY in Attendance.
 MERIDEN, Sept. 13.-The eighteenth an- nual State here fair opened to day. There l was a very large crowd present notwithstand- | ing the fact that it rained hard yesterday and l left everything in bad condition for the l opening. For this reason everything was
 not in readiness for the opening, nor in fact | was everything in working order even when | this afternoon came round. Many of those present during the day were school children, | as this was holiday for them. The streets
 leading to the fair grounds were in horrible condition. Inside the grounds things seemed
 to be topsy -turvy. Verify it seemed as if the mud was knee deep, but the people tramped along, round and round, and back ' and forth until 1t would seem as if they were | tired. But their staying qualities were firm, ' and they "stuck." The State Reform School l band was present, and made the occasion of ! extra interest by their good playing. And ' the fakirs! A gatling gun could not drive | them away from such places as these. They were out in full force to day, and the din and | chatter they raised in vending their wares was almost deafening. "Old Sport" Campa- | na never gets left on place of this kind, and \ he was accordingly there.
 The races which were to have taken place | to-day had to be postponed until tomorrow. | The track was in very bad condition. Men ' were at work dipping up the water which ! covered it in some places by means or ! sponges. It is doubtful if the races will be \ held tomorrow. If they are the sun will | have to come out bright and early tomorrow morning.
 The exhibits are third larger, the secre- tary says, than year ago.
 The main exhibition was the center of at | troo ol1 "a indeed. | had right to all the attention it received. \ The lower part was devoted to the exhibits \ by the various granges of the State. The | tables were not arranged, but will be to-mor- ! TOW. The show to-day, however, was very fine and gives an idea of what it will be to- morrow. The quarters here are much more complete than in the tent where they were last year. The ladies did the bulk of the work here.
 The Wallingford grange makes particu- larly fine exhibit. One feature is pyramid of five baskets. The bottom basket is ten feet in diameter and filled with vegetables, the next with apples, the next with pears, the next with peaches, plums, grapes, etc. and the top with flowers. The first basket for ornamentation is covered with rye, the second with oats, the third with rye, the fourth with oats and the fifth with braided straw The whole is surmounted with ban ner with these words: Ready for Market" " ! It was designed by Mrs. Joel Allen, B. J. Hough, George W. Cook, R. B. Townsend, A. J. Hall.
 The North Haven grange made very cred itable showing. An arch with the words s'North Haven Grange" in evergreen marked their display. Mrs. Eliza Clinton, Hubert Potter, Eaton Bros. and E. Warner have the largest exhibits. Numerous fancy articles help the looks of the general display. The Meriden grange had an excellent dis
 play. Besides there were the Cromwell, New
 D-1k koSn Pa~ly fol Southingten, Pennington and Middle6eld granges well represented in fancy and other things, which all made this floor a most at- tractive place.
 The upper floor was used for the exhibit of fruits and farm products One corner of the floor was used for the exhibiting of 253 diff fersnt varieties of potatoes raised from seed of one eye by Theron Platt. New wtown; Al. .Coe, of Meriden, had display on the center table of thirty varieties of grapes and forty of pears. P. M. Augur 6 Son led in the fruit line, having fifty varieties of apples, forty of grapes, twenty of pears and six of peaches. B. 0. Warner of North Haven and George R. Johnson of Cheshire were among the exhib- itors of fruit and vegetables.
 Linus Birdsey shows some wine that is thirty-nine years old.
 The exhibit of live stock is larger than for several years past. The Cherry Park com pany of Cheshire exhibit fine herd of thirty
 
 grove has Q splendid lot of cows, heifers and bulls of the Jersey breed. There is an excel lent show of the Jersey, Ayrshire, Guernsey, Holstein, Devons and Swiss breeds. The oxen are numerous. The exhibit of swine is rather light.
 There is good display of horses and poul- try.
 Among the many agricultural exhibits are those by O. Pierpont & Go. of New Haven. with B. s. Osborn of Howe street, New Ha- ven, in charge. Robert B. Bradley 6 Co.,, of New Haven, also have an exhibition of agricultural implements.
 l.. Sanderson, of New Haven, has good display of fertilizers.
 One of the events of the day was the visit of Governor Lounsbury and his staff. Owing to mistake the Governor came at II o'clock, earlier than the reception committee expect ed, and there was no one to meet him. At l o'clock the Governor and his staff were es certed to the park by the reception commit tee. Arriving there President Bill introduced the Governor from the balcony of the grange building.
 He said in substance that he was glad to be present, that he regretted the state ot the weather, that he supposed he was not to de- liver political speech as it might not be in accord with the sentiment of many present, and that if he should tell all he knew about farming that those present would know that he did not know any more about it than Horace Greeley.
 The Governor went around, saw all the sights and finally witnessed an exhibition of some trained wo-year-old steers, owned by W. Lyons of Burlington.
 Miss Hattie V. Hough, of Wallingford, presented the Governor with an elegant bou- quet of flowers, and she was graciously com- plimented. Governor Lounsbury left at 2:30 for New York.
 At o'clock award of premiums were made in part of class A.
 For the best pair of fat oxen the first premium, BIO, was awarded to John M Ferris, of stratford. The second prize, which was S5. taken by S H. Peck of WateFtewn Other entries were by Horace Austin of Wallingford. c. F. Hamn of Plantsyiile, Lyme tine first and second prizes, amounting $15, for best fat steers Other entries made by F. F. Fordeck of North Lyme and N P. Beardsley of Roxbury.
 The first premium was awarded c. A. Birdsey. of ! Meriden, TOT pest ras COW ana J. A: Blli, or Lyme Other entries were byJ W. Yale of Meriden, and
 The judges were William M Stanley of East | Hartford, John Bishop of Cheshire and R. N. Dix of
 Steers thoroughbred or grade Three yearolds- \ First premium, Webster Bros of Berlin $S; second, Isaac Barney of Collinsville $4; third, G. B. Hitch
 Two-year- -olds First premium, J. M Ferris Of |
 One-year oids~First premium, B. Hitchcock of \ Waterbury, S6; second, E. M. Back of Waterbury, \
 Steers, thoroughbred grade Devons, Jerseys I and Guernseys- Three -year-olds. First premium, F. S. Fosdick of North Seymour, $S; second, s. H. | Peck of Watertown, $4.
 Two -olds-First premium, Archie D. Atwood of Watertown, $6; second, Noble W. Munscn of | Watertown. s.
 One-year-o -olds-First premium: A. s.Lyon of Bur lington, $6; second s. H. Peck. $3. Steer calves-First premium, Archie D. Atwood, | The judges were George F. Capen of I Bloomfield, 0. L. Dayton of Watertown and | Simon Brewster of Griswold.
 By to morrow there promises to be as good \ an exhibit as usual of things at the Town I hall. Among them is display of musical | instruments by o. M. Loomis & Co.,, of New | Haven. E. L. Catlin, of New Haven, exhib- Il it's some pianos, and some sewing machines \ also.
 It is hoped that tomorrow Wednesday, ! will be clear and bright. It is quite possi- ! ble the fair will be held over to Saturday. |
 The races will begin tomorrow afternoon I at 9 o'clock.
 Meeting ofthe Board of Health.
 The board of health met last evening and I